Hearing good stuff about Cannondale

[Buckholz]

Spoke with a coupla guys riding/owning the 2002 Cannondale E440 enduro.

Short message is.... they really like it for technical riding and its getting really good fuel econ.

I dumped my XR650R, looking hard at a Cannondale as a second bike.

Racing Laughlin in 3 weeks, after the race I get to demo a buddy's Cannondale E440. It should have gone 150 miles of nasty terrain, so if its still running, and I like it, I'm gonna put a deposit down.

 

[mxbundy]

Sorry, this is off topic, but what race are you going to in Laughlin?
I might be interested.
Are do you mean the WORCS race at Lake Havasu .


thanks
mxbundy

 

[azcourt]

Laughlin is the Best In the Desert US hare scrambles event. It is one tough race. It seperates the men from the boys. It is 120+ miles of the nastiest single track you can imagine. A friend of mine (amature class) ironmanned it 3 years ago, 7hrs was his time :eek: . It takes the Pro teams almost 5 hours. Check it out http://www.bitd.com/USHS.html .

 

[Buckholz]

Mr AzCourt um, characterizes the race, um, well.

If you race, you will get your money's worth.

Team Green sponsors the race, ProCircuit sponsors the after race party (if you aren't passed out due to fatigue in the sponsoring Casino's room....)

Casey runs the most professional race org, IMHO. If I were yawl, I'd put together a 3 man team and go race. Great time. 200 rider/team max. All the big names and factory haulers will be there.

Terrain is actually fairly good to ride in, great traction, but it will just wear you out by the end, but it is safe racing as the speed averages for us goobers is like 25mph.

 

[azcourt]

I do not think Kawasaki is sponsoring it any more. I also was told they will no longer do factory support at BITD races. It seems they were pretty miffed about Johnny C getting points for last years Luaghlin race which he did not attend :think (substitute rider was Sommers I believe). If all this is true, that is too bad. Kawasaki had excellent support for anyone on a Green machine. Heck, in the Nevada 2000 I saw them changing a tube on one of those orange bikes. Reed and company at Kawasaki were a true class act, hope they show up this year. :think

 

[Buckholz]

Back to Cannondale talk

Yup, Kawasaki is back. Says so on my entry forms. Was suprized how Casey worded it, so your post expains. Team Green helped me fix a broken footpeg on my KX500 during the Laughlin race about 5 years ago. They are a class act.

Downloaded the 100 pg manual on the E440. Must say it is the best manual from a motorcycle company, and I've owned maybe 15 bikes in the last 20 yrs.

Couple things stand out. They recommend fuel filter replacement every 5 hours. Great thing is it is a little clear plastic fram filter, probably less than $3. I filter my fuel going into all my bikes, so I suspect 5 hrs is conservative, just like piston replacement at 20 hours is conservative for the Yam 4strokes.

Chain freeplay is around 2.25", so if I buy one of these, I'll have to recalibrate my hand.

Looks like you can plug the bike into your computer and read fault codes. That would be great.

Also bike has coil on plug ignition, just like my GMC.....

Looks like I'm about to buy "handmade in the USA"

 

[Buckholz]

Oh ya, forgot to mention the no tools, quick release seat...

I am so happy I sold that POS XR650R.

I'd probably still use my '02 KTM380 for most racing, and use the E440 for DS, practice, longer rides....

 

[Syd Mitchell]

Hi Mark, sorry to read that your experiences with your xr650r got so
bad that you now describe it as a pile of sh*t.
It seems like only yesterday that I was enjoying your informative posts on
the xr650r group.
11,000 trouble free and happy miles later I'm still very happy with mine.

I hope you gain satisfaction dual-sporting a Cannondale.

cheers, Craig ( U.K.)

 

[azcourt]

So glad Kawasaki is back. Thanks for the info.